Email  Print

Best lingcod fishing in years

Fishing and hunting

The best fishing near Sonoma Valley this week is off Bodega Bay, where Capt. Rick Powers, of Bodega Bay Sportfishing, reports the best lingcod action in at least seven years. On virtually every trip, Rick's clients are bringing home limits of large lingcod, plus full limits of rockfish. What makes lingcod special is their larger size (up to four feet long), and tastiness. He also said that the 40-to-50-foot water visibility is the best he has seen in years. 

Rick added that while the salmon fishing has slowed, there are signs that it may be coming back to good this week. In fact, anglers heading out of the Golden Gate and fishing off the Marin shoreline are starting to see some nice salmon action 

Call Rick at 875-3344 to book a trip.

Inside San Francisco Bay, Keith Fraser, at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael, said striped bass and halibut fishing is improving, and salmon can still be caught off Cal City. He can set up some very nice half-day (late afternoon, early evening) trips on a six-pack boat, and, depending on the tides, you can fish for salmon, striped bass and halibut.  The trips (four-angler minimum) are around $90 a person. Call Keith at 415-456-0321.

Diane Mowery, of Leonard's Bait Shop at Port Sonoma, said the fishing in the Petaluma River near the shop has been good for sharks and fair to good for stripers. She has also heard some good fishing reports for the Napa River.

Salmon fishing on the Sacramento River is said to be the best in nearly a decade according to fishing reports I've seen. The fish are big, averaging 16 to 20 pounds, and they are fresh off the ocean and full of fight. Guide Kirk Portocarrero is a good contact for fishing for salmon or trout on the Sac. Call him at 800-670-4448.

Art Hau, avid fly-fisher and a member of the I-T staff, fished the north fork of the Yuba River last week, catching and releasing lots of nice rainbows. Art is a good source of information on where to find trout in the Sierras.

Bob Grace, at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir, said fly-fishing on the upper Sacramento has been in its usual summer mode, which means it can be good at times, and slow others. Air quality in the canyon has been poor due to the fires east of Redding, but there are lots of planted rainbows in the stretch of river through Dunsmuir, plus some big trout in the lower river that have migrated upstream from Shasta Lake.

I fished the Metolius River one day two weeks ago, during our family vacation at Lake Creek Lodge near Camp Sherman, Oregon. The Metolius is a gin-clear, beautiful river, but the fishing wasn't good. Lake Creek Lodge, a family resort that I stayed in when I was a kid, is still operating and my children and grandchildren had a wonderful time. The lodge has its own trout pond, plus a swimming pool, playground, tennis courts, and nicely appointed cabins with full kitchens.

I engaged fly-fishing instructor Laurie Adams to teach our seven grandkids the basics. The kids loved it, especially the two-hour, live, stream-side entomology lesson (aka bug hunt), so they could understand what trout eat. If you are considering a family fishing vacation, I highly recommend Lake Creek Lodge, lakecreeklodge.com. And if you have kids or grandkids (and she teaches adults, too), contact Laurie at ladams@mtngroup.com. She is an excellent teacher and comes to the resort and teaches right there on the trout pond.